The unofficial online home for fans of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(03-30-2019 09:47 AM)CallMeSlim Wrote:  

(03-30-2019 09:38 AM)mptnstr@44 Wrote:  

(03-30-2019 09:25 AM)CallMeSlim Wrote:  I would agree with fewer years = less reliable data, but also the game is clearly changing. 3 teams the past 2 years have made the elite 8 shooting more 3's than 2's (Auburn and Purdue this year, Nova last year.) That never happened between 2002 and 2017.


I would think that is a trend that continues as more teams realize 3's and layups are the way to go on offense. Knock down shooters or elite athletes that can get to the rim whenever they want. The evolution of offensive basketball.

If the game is trending towards teams shooting and making a higher % of 3s then a match up zone D where you decide to sacrifice 3s to defend 2s will become increasingly more ineffective.

We've been terrible at defending the 3 2 of the last 3 years, but in 2018 we were 7th best at it in the country.


It's more than just our defensive scheme. Gotta have the players for it. We lost 2 elite defenders in Gary and Jake. Cronin's defense can work against the 3, but everybody has to play it correctly. That just didn't happen this year.

Then in order to be successful he needs to adjust his offense and defense schemes based on the personnel he has each year and not rigidly stick to one philosophy.

IMO this comes down to a simple glaring difference between this year's team and last year's... Last year we had bigs that could step out on the offensive end and this year we had bigs that were no threat outside of 8 feet. No outside threat, no room in the middle. No room, no place to penetrate and pitch or draw fouls or look for the bigs on a lob. UC has to find or develop a big that is a legit threat from at least 15' to 18' and maybe the 3 line. When Clark and Washington would step out to 15+ feet, the other team's bigs had to follow or they had to change their D. This year no one had to move a defender for Brooks, Nsoseme or Diarra thus congestion in the lane and perimeter defenders feeling more comfortable crowding our guards. All leading to a significant decrease in our offensive efficiency. Get bigs who can perform away from the house or we have to significantly change our offensive philosophy. It's pretty easy

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

This aged well

I'm not sure either one of those games last night should really be branded defensive battles and victories, but they will because of the teams involved. I think in the 2nd game Virginia just flat out rebounds the ball better as they're more athletic inside, and it translated into more opportunities in the form of second shots and ft's. Even when you're the best defense in the country they still gave up 14 3's which honestly is awful tough to stop(43%). If Virginia would have hit shots in the first half they would have won that game by 8 or 10 pts. Just couldn't knock down wide open looks early(seen this elsewhere!). I thought in the first game Texas Tech did a better job of confusing the Zags, but really they got handled pretty well on the glass. Again another team that likes to shoot the 3, and they're starters are 6/23 from the perimeter. Norvell 2/9 killed them. 16 to's for them is a lot, so i guess you could question that as the conference competition issues goes, they were facing better competition and didn't respect it. Both were really good games. Wish Auburn was at full strength today for Uk, but they have what they have.

Virginia is great on both sides of the ball. It took maybe the best individual tournament scoring performance I've ever seen by Edwards to keep them in it. The degree of difficulty on the shots he was making was breathtaking.

Texas tech just inside the top 30 on offense. They are number 1 in defense by a wide margin. They are historically great on that end at least by the numbers.

If Auburn wins today they'll be a statistical outlier only 43 in adjusted defense but 6 in adjusted offense. Virginia, Kentucky, Duke and Michigan state are all top 15 in both adjusted offense and adjusted defense. Being really good to great on both sides of the ball is the biggest predictor of March success.

(03-31-2019 10:34 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Virginia is great on both sides of the ball. It took maybe the best individual tournament scoring performance I've ever seen by Edwards to keep them in it. The degree of difficulty on the shots he was making was breathtaking.

Texas tech just inside the top 30 on offense. They are number 1 in defense by a wide margin. They are historically great on that end at least by the numbers.

If Auburn wins today they'll be a statistical outlier only 43 in adjusted defense but 6 in adjusted offense. Virginia, Kentucky, Duke and Michigan state are all top 15 in both adjusted offense and adjusted defense. Being really good to great on both sides of the ball is the biggest predictor of March success.

I agree. At the end of the day on most nights against top teams you have to be able to score inside and out if you want to win. Rebounding and second chances are typically the deciding factor.

(03-31-2019 10:34 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Virginia is great on both sides of the ball. It took maybe the best individual tournament scoring performance I've ever seen by Edwards to keep them in it. The degree of difficulty on the shots he was making was breathtaking.

Texas tech just inside the top 30 on offense. They are number 1 in defense by a wide margin. They are historically great on that end at least by the numbers.

If Auburn wins today they'll be a statistical outlier only 43 in adjusted defense but 6 in adjusted offense. Virginia, Kentucky, Duke and Michigan state are all top 15 in both adjusted offense and adjusted defense. Being really good to great on both sides of the ball is the biggest predictor of March success.

Been saying this for three years now, the last 11 of 12 national champions have been top 25 in both adjO and adjD. It is a must.

The outlier year also had a 7 seed beating an 8 seed in the final.

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk